European Regulators Okay Sale of Delphi’s Battery Business

European Union antitrust regulators have cleared the sale of car parts maker Delphi Corp.’s car battery business to U.S.-based car systems manufacturer Johnson Controls Inc.
The EU head office said the $212.5 million U.S. deal “does not raise competition concerns” in the European market because there was enough competition in the sector.
Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls, which makes car seats and batteries, and Troy, Mich.-based Delphi, the world’s largest auto supplier, announced the deal in March and hope to close it this summer.
The sale will see the transfer of Delphi’s global lead battery business to a joint venture run by Johnson Controls and Robert Bosch GmbH, a German supplier of automotive technology and power tools. Johnson Controls owns 80 percent of the Varta AG’s battery division, with the remaining share controlled by Bosch.
Delphi’s battery business has annual sales of about US$600 million (euro497 million), although the company’s U.S. automotive battery manufacturing locations were not included in the deal.